Check dispenser



1966 LA VERGNE w. GILLETTE 3,269,549

CHECK DISPENSER Filed Dec. 16, 1964 I NVENTOR.

United States Patent 3,269,549 CHECK DISPENSER La Vergne W. Gillette, Muskegon, Mich., assignor to The Shaw-Walker Co., Muskegon, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Filed Dec. 16, 1964, Ser. No. 418,640 1 Claim. (Cl. 211-50) This application is a continuation-in-part of co-p'ending application Serial N 0. 280,931, filed May 16, 1963.

My invention relates to a portable check dispenser and has for one object to provide a light, easily manipulatable check dispenser which may be hung on a file tray front or may stand on the level top of the file, desk or table.

Another object is to provide a check dispenser which will so-to-speak feather the checks so that they may be easily hand-led, may be visible, may be easily manipulated.

Another object "is to provide a check dispenser which holds the checks upright, visible and fanned out for split second verification of names, account numbers and signatures of checks as they are being filed in a bank after being charged to their writers accounts.

Another object is to provide such a portable removable dispenser as may be hung on the front of the file tray in firm position without any possible contact with the front of the tray.

Other objects will appear from time to time throughout the specification and claim.

The invention is illustrated more or less diagrammatically in the accompanying drawings, wherein FIGURE 1 is a perspective of a file cabinet with the check dispenser in place;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation on an enlarged scale of the end of a tray head with check dispenser in place containing checks;

FIGURE 3 is a front view of the dispenser;

FIGURE 4 is a rear view of the dispenser.

Like parts are indicated by like characters throughout the specification and drawings. The filing cabinet -1 has a flat top 2 and may contain a number of trays 3 appropriate to support bank checks. Each tray has a front or tray head 4, a handle 5 projecting forwardly therefrom and contains an assembly of cancelled checks 6 vertically disposed, ready for verification and filing. The check dispenser includes a flat plate 10, an upper hook including a generally horizontal strip 11 adapted to lie on the top of the drawer front with a downwardly extending flange 12 engaging the back of the drawer front. The width of the strip 11 is slightly greater than the thickness of the drawer front. Extending downwardly and rearwardly from the plate is a strut plate 13 inclined to the plate 10. The strut plate terminates in a foot 14. Extending upwardly and forwardly inclined to the plate 10 is a two piece front wall 15, 16. The right hand wall part is narrower horizontally than the left hand piece so as to provide throughout the entire height of the wall a visual opening through which signatures on checks may be inspected. The strut plate 13 exetnds substantially clear across the wall 10 and is so positioned that it or the wall itself will always come in contact with the handle 5 so that the foot 14 can never contact and mar the front of the drawer.

When the parts are in the working position as shown, the wall elements 15 and 16 are outwardly inclined to the vertical to bring the stack of checks '17 held in the pocket defined by the walls 10, 15 and 16 relationship in such position that they are easily accessible to the operator.

The horizontal distance between the foot '14 and the bottom edge of the wall '10 is such that the check dispenser may stand on its own bottom, the center of gravity of the pack of checks carried by the pocket defined by the members 10, 15, 16 being forward of the foot so as to give the check dispenser stability if it is supported on a flat surface.

As a general rule a pile of checks, one inch high, will be just about the daily load for a single tray and the operator takes a one inch pile of checks, jogs them down firmly on the desk, holds the upper part of the pile between the thumb and fingers of his right hand and the lower part with his left hand, squeezes and bends and squeezes and bends until the checks are shingled and the first or front check is approximately two inches higher than the back check just as shown in FIGURE 2. The magnetic ink accounting number appearing on the face of the foremost or the first and only check entirely visible through the space between the members 15 and '16 so having assembled a pack of checks as shown in FIGURE 3, the operator after verifying and filing the first check, takes one check after another for verification before placing them in the file. The feathering and shingling of the checks makes this very easy and the aperture in the back wall of the dispenser leaves ample space to reach in behind the back of the checks.

The members -11 and 12 are tapered so that they are narrower than the full length of the dispenser. Thus the dispenser hangs easily on a tray even though it may be narrower than the dispenser, as under some circumstances it might be, especially when used with smaller size checks.

Checks each day are sorted into account number or name sequence before being charged against individual accounts. After that accounting procedure, the checks are verified and filed. At the end of each month the checks for all accounts are removed from the file, audited and folded inside their respective monthly statements which are then ready for mailing or delivery to depositors.

The verification and filing operation of checks is tedious and usually quite slow. A bank handling a million and a half checks a month may require fifteen people for that operationan annual cost up to fifty thousand dollars.

The check dispenser which can stand on top of the file or hang on the tray front directly above the tray into which checks are being filed, simplifies and speeds check verification and filing.

The following are some of the important features:

(1) Correct reading angle of the back plate whether dispenser stands on top of the file or hangs on tray front.

(2) The angle of front plate in relation to back plate to control the fanned-out or feather-edged checks in the dispenser.

(3) The location of the open front window to reveal magnetic ink account numbers along the lower edge of the top or first check.

(4) Back supporting brace holds dispenser at correct angle for reading when standing on top of file or table, also rests against tray handle to prevent contact with and mar-ring finish of tray front.

(5) Tapered top allows dispenser to be hung on front of normal size trays as well as on trays that are not as wide as the dispenser.

The particular relationship of the parts is of the essence. The check dispenser must in the interest of speed and accuracy be held firmly in position. Hence the fact that the fianged hook plate fits snugly on the top of the drawer and the fact that the drawer handle contacts the dispenser before any other part of the dispenser can touch the drawer front, thus firmly positioning the drawer between the handle and the top of the front without the possibility of "anywhere else touching the drawer front.

At the same time the particular relationship between the planes including the lower edges of the strut plate and the rear wall and the plane including the lower edge of the strut plate and the top edge of the wall inside the hook insures stability when as is sometimes the case, the dispenser must stand on its bottom. g

The foot 14 is in a plane which includes the foot, the intersection of the walls 10 and 1 and the intersection of the foot 14 and the strut plate 13. This plane is perpendicular to a plane which passes through the intersection of the strut plate 1-3 and foot 14 and the intersection of the fiat plate and the generally horizontal strip 11.

I claim:

A check dispenser including a forwardly and upwardly inclined two-part front wall, a rearwardly and upwardly inclined rear wall, the walls intersecting at their respective lower edges, a strut plate of width substantially equal to the rear wall, rearwardly and downwardly inclined therefrom intermediate the top and bottom edges of the wall, a foot extending forwardly from the bottom edge of the strut along the entire width of the back wall and lying in a generally horizontal plane passing through the intersection of the front and rear walls, the upper edge of the rear wall being located in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the foot, the rear wall decreasing in width upwardly from a point above the upper edge of the front Wall, a hanger strip, the length of which is the same as the decreased width of the rear wall extending rearwardly from the upper edge of the rear wall in a plane parallel to the plane of the foot, a flange, shorter than the hanger strip, extending downwardly from the rear edge of the strip, inclined outwardly therefrom and decreasing in width downwardly therefrom, the two-part front wall including References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS D. 167,393 8/1195'2 Davis et a1.

1,247,033 11/1917 Swartz 24s 459 4,665,271 4/1928 Luggers 24s 459 2,117,545 5/1938 De Minico 124 Q,539,923 1/1951 =Phaneuf 211 2,642,190 6/1953 Kelly 211--88 CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner.

FRANK L. ABBOTT, Examiner.

R. P. SEITTER, Assistant Examiner. 

